The Shaman Fight: Restart
by Hoshi wo Tsuki
Summary: A year has passed since The Shaman Fight had been inturrupted, but now the Restart has come. With it, twin girls have appeared, bringing with them pain, love, jealousy and change for everyone. HXOC RXOC. T for Language, violence.
1. Chapter 1 Chance Encounter

Disclaimer: I don't own the title, "Shaman King," nor am I with any manga/anime companies in any way. Any OCs are mine unless stated otherwise. All characters I didn't make go to their respected owner, Takei Hiroyki-sensei.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Yoh-kun. Anna-san is going to be mad at you for splurging on those oranges."

The taller brunette next to the speaker simply "heh heh heh-ed" in reply to it. "It'll be alright Manta. At least it didn't go over the budget."

"I worry about you sometimes," Manta told him. He sighed. "So you haven't heard anything from the Oracle Bell lately?"

"No," Yoh replied. "It's been a year since that incident, and I doubt that I'll hear about the Shaman Fight again any time soon. I don't even know if they're going to start it up again," he explained, continuing to walk on the dirt road.

It was late, but the weather still warm on the late summer day as the two friends walked from Heiyu from grocery shopping to the old inn-turned-Asakura residence. The sun had nearly set and the sky was splashed yellow and red, with a few stars just starting to appear behind the haze of street lamps. Such a nice evening, but something felt off.

"Do you feel that?" Mosuke asked, suddenly coming out.

"Yoh-dono," Amidamaru called, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"Ah. I know," the Shaman replied, knowing what seemed to bother the ghosts. Manta looked up at his friend, seeing a serious look on his face akin to what he looked like when he was knowingly going into a fight during the Shaman Fight.

"What's wrong, Yoh-kun?" the little person asked worriedly. The boy in question didn't reply, but started walking a little off-course from home to where the park was located. "Ah, wait Yoh-kun!" Manta called out while catching up to him in a run.

The park seemed deserted; only the occasional young couple on a date popping up in the distance. All seemed right to them, but even with his limited Shamanic powers, Manta could now sense some sort of strange energy coming from a certain direction. It felt ... a bit familiar in a way the boys couldn't place. The feeling was large and oppressive, and it felt like it was getting a little hard to breathe, yet still had the presence of something or someone gentle and cautious. Yoh, Manta, Mosuke and Amidamaru just kept going a little farther into the most wooded area of the park, determined to see who or what this feeling was and what was causing it. In one of the thickest parts of the foliage, the presence got stronger, and they finally saw what was the cause of it.

Propped against a rather large tree were two young girls, just about their age give or take a few months, each looking strikingly similar to the other. Both of them had straight dirty blonde hair reaching down to their waists, bangs hanging just above their closed eyes to frame their faces, one just slightly more angular than the other and both of their heads were decorated with headbands - black on one's and a white one on the other's. Both of them had on very similar dresses as well; both wore short, long-sleeved cotton dresses with jewel necklines and thick belts hugging their waists. The girls also had on warm cotton tights and what looked to be 3-inch knee-high boots. On one girl, the clothes were black and the belt white with a black circle that made up the buckle, and the other girl's were white, the belt being black with a white circle buckle and two backpacks in their respective colors right next to the each of them. Around the black-dress-girl's neck was an onyx cross necklace with a white ring encrusted with small white round-cut diamonds crossing it diagonally on a 20 inch chain, the same necklace on the other's but white with a black diamond encrusted ring on it. Both of the girls were leaning on each other at the shoulders and head, looking like they were asleep and unconcerned of who might just stumble upon them in their vulnerable state.

"Wh-what are these two doing here?!" Manta exclaimed softly as the boys and ghosts huddled in private consult.

"I don't know. Maybe they're homeless?" Yoh suggested with wide, worried eyes, referring to the dirt and grime that layered their skin and clothes.

Amidamaru said, "But these girls are definitely the source of that presence that we felt. Perhaps we should be cautious in finding out what they are doing here." Mosuke nodded in agreement.

The four looked behind them, seeing that the two were still sleeping away while the boys were figuring out what to do next. Yoh, in all his brilliance, straightened up from his crouch and walked over to where the two were. "Ano," he began as he shook a black shoulder. "you'll get sick if you sleep out here." The ones behind him anime-dropped in response. Eyebrows knitted together slightly in their own reaction, and after a few seconds her eyelids groggily opened up, revealing dark blue-colored eyes.

* * *

She felt the hand on her shoulder first as she woke up from her blessedly dreamless sleep. She recognized the Furyoku from the Shaman Fights, but all she could think of right now was that he was too close to her and her little sister physically. Eyes snapping all the way open, she grabbed his wrist with her right hand from her left shoulder and twisted the intruder's body so he was laying on his stomach, the arm in her right hand wrung in an awkward angle behind him as she dug her left knee into the space between his shoulder blades painfully.

"Yoh-kun!"

"Yoh-dono!"

"Yoh!"

_'There're more but they ain't worth it,'_ she quickly decided. "Don't get near me or my sister." She threatened, her eyes liquid fire as she glared down at the male under her.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" the boy called Yoh called in distress. "I didn't mean anything by it!"

_'Asakura Yoh. A few thousand Furyoku points last time I checked and defeated his brother Hao last year when he tried to take The Great Spirit for himself. A pretty good guy who doesn't seem to have a bad bone in his body.'_ She lifted her leg off of Yoh's back in almost distrust, letting his arm unravel from its knotted appearance to the still sun-warmed grass at his side. The midget next to the shopping bags and the ghosts hurried over to help their friend out from the hold she had on him.

"You alright Yoh-dono?" the silver-haired samurai ghost-

_'Amidamaru'_

-asked worriedly as his Shaman sat back up.

"Heh heh heh." His grin was rather large on his face as he rubbed the back of his head in apology for worrying his companions.

"Don't 'heh heh heh' at us." The sandy hair little person told the brunette exasperatedly while the big black-headed Japanese ghost sighed in relief.

_'Mosuke.'_

She didn't want to take her chances with these guys more than what was necessary in this situation. "If I were y'all, I'd get outta here as fast as ya could," she warned to them, breaking off the sort-of relaxed atmosphere and bringing their attention back to her and her still-sleeping sister.

"But it's not healthy to be sleeping out here," Manta told her. From her observations, he wasn't a threat. Only some Shamanic training, his ghost the blacksmith Mosuke not very strong and his Medium not with him either but instead, a rather large encyclopedia tucked under his arm. He seemed genuinely concerned for her and her sister's safety.

"Thank you, but we'll manage," she said briskly. She just wanted them to go away.

"Will you at least give us your names?" Was Yoh implying that she introduce herself and the other girl? For courtesy? She may know their names already, but it was only polite that they give their names first.

"What're yours first?" she asked. After slight hesitation at her words, the boys in front of her spoke up.

"Asakura Yoh," the brunette with orange headphones said.

"Oyamada Manta," he gave a polite smile that reached his eyes to her.

"Amidamaru," he bowed in respect at her.

"Mosuke," He jutted his thumb towards himself.

_'Only fair now.'_

"My name's Elen." She said finally. The now named girl looked over to the other blonde next to her, now growing a bit restless from the noises they were making. "Her name's Diana. She's my younger twin sister." At the sound of her name, Diana had started opening up her own eyes to see what was going on. Rubbing her bright green eyes like a child to fend off what sleep may try to take her again, she noticed the boys were now looking at her in slight expectancy and was snapped awake immediately. Squeaking, she dove behind Elen like a rabbit jumping into a hole to escape a hungry predator. "Diana, stop that. It's rude," Elen chided. Looking back to Yoh and co, she told them, "Sorry. She gets really shy at times."

The brunette smiled again, not seemingly to be bothered by that fact at all. He scooted a little closer to the pair, peering behind the black-clothed girl to glance at Diana. She seemed to be like Tamao in a sense. "You're Diana, right?" he asked, addressing the girl directly. That seemed to make her shoulders sag in hesitant relaxation as she looked over her sister's shoulder to nod. He noticed that perhaps she wasn't just being shy at someone new. Maybe she was... afraid? Sad? Whatever emotion was in her green orbs, they looked to be the same one in Elen's. "I'm Asakura Yoh. It's nice to meet you. And these are my friends." He gestured behind him as they introduced themselves again.

"If I may ask," Amidamaru started as Diana started to ease herself from her hiding spot, "what are the two of you doing here?"

Blue met green as they silently debated whether to tell them or not. "Waiting," the twins said at the same time. The others adopted perplexed looks on their faces at the answer given to them, wondering what they were waiting for in the first place.

"For what?" Manta asked them, just as the last of the sunlight started to reflect off of a surface. He looked for the source, more surprise evident on his face as he discovered the item on Elen's backpack. He checked Diana's and sure enough found another on hers.

"The Shaman Fight: Restart."

* * *

Oh my God I FINALLY DID THIS!

New rewrite, new title, but same old problems really. I'm thinking of deleting the other two once I've caught up to the storyline in both of them. Tell me what y'all think! And a special thank you to Darknesse Sidhe for beta-ing!

And I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm giving a round of applause to my teachers for letting me type this up in class! Hurray!

On another note, if nobody has read Shaman King: Flowers, READ NOW! In chapter 6, it looks like there could be such a wonderful yaoi moment! Tee hee hee!

One last thing! Tell me if I should delete the old stories when I get caught up storyline-wise with this one! Wait, I said that already. Oops! Hee hee hee!

Please read, review, send ideas and send to friends.

See y'all next time!


	2. Chapter 2 Who are you?

Disclaimer: I don't own the title, "Shaman King," nor am I with any manga/anime companies in any way. Any OCs are mine unless stated otherwise. All characters I didn't make go to their respected owner, Takei Hiroyki-sensei.

RECAP:

_"...could now sense some sort of strange energy coming from a certain direction. It felt ... a bit familiar in a way the boys couldn't place. The feeling was large and oppressive, and it felt like it was getting a little hard to breathe, yet still had the presence of something or someone gentle and cautious."_

_"Propped against a rather large tree were two young girls, just about their age give or take a few months, each looking strikingly similar to the other."_

_"She recognized the Furyoku from the Shaman Fights, but all she could think of right now was that he was too close to her and her little sister..."_

_"'My name's Elen... Her name's Diana. She's my younger twin sister.'"_

_"'what are the two of you doing here?'"_

_"...he discovered the item on Elen's backpack. He checked Diana's and sure enough found another on hers."_

_"'The Shaman Fight: Restart.'"_

ENJOY!

* * *

Steam rose from the cooling hot water on their now clean skin in small billows as the twins stepped out of the onsen in crisp white towels, now free of all the dirt and impurities that had covered them. Elen and Diana's hair, once thought to have been dark blonde almost brown, was now it's original gold with thin, light brown highlights streaking the locks. Looking at her sister through the mirror with apprehensive emerald eyes, Diana watched as Elen ran a brush through her own still-damp hair to get rid of any tangles in an almost hypnotized state.

"[Are we really gonna stay here?]" Diana asked suddenly in their native tongue, her hands gripping the front of her towel tightly until they were the same shade of white. The elder stopped brushing for a moment and looked at the younger reassuringly.

"[It'll be OK,]" she told her in the same language, a hand on her sister's shoulder. "[Everyone here was at the Shaman Fights and they're all Shamans. We'll be fine.]" Diana's eyes looked down to the counter in front of them in sadly, as if remembering something. It was a look Elen knew all too well when it came to the both of them and knew exactly what Diana was about to say.

"[_She_ was a Shaman too.]"

Elen could only nod in agreement.

The two were snapped out of their stupor by a knock on the door. "Ano," a timid voice called before sliding it open. A cute girl with shoulder-length volumed dark rose pink hair with round, raspberry pink eyes in a baggy white t-shirt and baggy black pants stepped in. "Your clothes are dry now. Hai." Stretching out her arms, she offered the two their now washed dresses, tights and belts to them. Giving the pinkette small but hollow-looking smiles, Elen and Diana took their clothes from her hands, replying with a soft "thank you, Tamao-san" in return.

Tamao turned to leave with one worried look so that the two could change in peace. After closing the door behind her, Tamao sighed and walked to the sitting room where Yoh, Anna, Ren, Manta and their respective ghosts were.

"How are they?" asked Yoh when she came into the room.

"They're fine, Yoh-sama," she replied before sliding the door closed and sitting down at the low table, eyes downcast. "I'm a bit worried about them though."

"How do you mean?" Manta questioned. Hearing the loud crunch of a rice cracker, his attention turned to the lounging Anna who was watching Awaya Ringo's newest music video, her eyes not leaving the screen.

"You mean their scars, right Tamao?" she asked in her all serious and seemingly uninterested voice.

"H-Hai. That's right," the pinkette replied in confirmation. "The two of them both have those scars all over their arms and legs," she further explained. "It looked like they were both slashed with knives over and over. I even saw what looked to be burn scars too. They look like they've had it pretty rough." Silence save for the still running TV reigned as each person or specter took in this new information, everyone trying to make some sense into what might've happened.

Were they in a Shaman Fight that went wrong? No, their Furyoku seemed too large to even propose something like that.

Did they do it themselves? Possible, but unlikely considering they seem stubborn enough to not do it.

Or maybe someone or something else entirely...

"Hm. This seems tough," Yoh commented, his face schooled in an expression of concentration. "What should we do, Ren?" he asked while looking at said boy.

"Why are you asking me?" the Tao asked, annoyed.

"Bocchama!"

"If you want to know so badly, you should just ask them," Ren said, his arms crossed and his eyes hard. "They'll probably tell us whatever we want to know, if you ask them the right questions."

"Ya know it's rude to talk about a lady's scars," came a strong alto voice from the door of the living room. Whipping their heads to the direction, the Shamans and Ghosts, including Anna whose show was now in silent commercial, saw both Elen and Diana in the door-way, now dry and dressed in their clean dresses that are now shown to flow to their mid-thighs. "Especially when they ain't even in the room."

How did they...

"Are you feeling better now?" Manta asked the two new-comers. The twins looked to the group, still with those small, barely noticeable and hollow smiles stretching their lips in an almost painful way.

"Yes, we're fine," Diana told the group reassuringly. Something nervous flickered in her eyes and she stepped closer to Elen, taking her right hand in her own left. Elen squeezed back comfortingly. "It's been a while since we got ourselves clean like that."

"You gave us quite a scare there," Amidamaru informed. "We had no idea what we'd find, so it was a shock to see the two of you like you were."

"Yes well, sorry for the trouble. And thank you for letting us get cleaned up," Elen started. "but we really should-"

"Your backpacks are upstairs in your room," Anna interrupted, turning the television off and standing up. Seeing bewilderment in the blue and green eyes of the guests, she explained. "You're also competing in the Shaman Fight. I won't ask for your reasons for doing so or how you know that they'll start up again after that incident with Hao, but in exchange for working around the house with Tamao and any information regarding this Shaman Fight: Restart business, I will allow you two to stay here as long as you both need to."

Diana and Elen locked eyes for a moment, considering the offer in what seemed to be twin telepathy. Yoh briefly wondered, had circumstances been different, if he and Hao could've had that sort of connection twins had like these two do.

He wondered...

"It's only fair," Elen told the other blonde. "We will tell you what we know and will work around the house in exchange for room and board." Blue eyes rolled between the brunette Asakura and the purple tongari-haired Tao. "Besides, we don't like fighting those who don't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet. And these two are hopeless when it comes to gathering information."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!" Ren's tongari shot up about a foot-and-a-half.

"Bocchama! Getting irritated is bad for your health!" Bason called, attempting to calm his Shaman down.

* * *

"[I'm just glad that they didn't find our Mochire. That would've been hell to explain and I didn't want us to go through that situation,]" Elen commented, slipping under the covers of her soft, comfortable futon beside her sister's. Diana sat, hugging her knees to her chest tightly in only her white undershirt and panties while also tracing a long scar that stretched the length of her left calf. Seeing this, Elen sighed, and sat up in order to take the hand that was playing with the light mark to stop her. "[It won't be like that ever again. We escaped that, and now we won't ever get hurt that way again.]"

Diana looked to her, holding the elder twin's hand back as she nodded in understanding. Elen let go of her, went to turn the lights of their room off, then slipped underneath the covers again as Diana did the same.

Elen seemed to have fallen asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. Diana, however, was still awake. Her mind was filled with so many different thoughts that it was hard to even keep her eyes closed for more than a few seconds. After an hour, she finally gave up trying to sleep, got up from her bed, sipped a yutaka on and, as silently as possible, went downstairs to the porch. The crescent moon shone down on the soon-to-die grass, framed by persistent stars that refused to be blocked out by the summer heat and the Tokyo smog. A cat yawned on the fence, gracefully walking along and meeting up with another, their heads rubbing together in affectionate greeting.

"Can't sleep?" asked a kind-sounding voice. Diana looked over, silently acknowledging Yoh's presence. "Me neither. I keep thinking about what you and Elen said earlier." He stepped to the edge of the porch, but a good distance away from her so that she wasn't too uncomfortable, but she was still silent as they stood there on the deck. "So it's true then?" he asked suddenly. "The Shaman Fight is going to start up again?" There was another stretch of silence. Yoh figured she wouldn't talk so easily. Never mind the fact that Diana seemed extremely shy around anyone other than her sister, but she and Elen also acted like they didn't trust anyone besides each other.

"We don't know all the details," said the blonde suddenly. "All we do know is that The Great Spirit is supposed to contact the Oracle Bells of the Shamans who were still in the Tournament by the time the Hao Incident occurred."

Hao again.

"Your Furyoku is really something else," Yoh commented. "If you're so powerful, then how come we haven't heard of you before now?"

"The Patch wanted us to be need-to-know only. The only time we were heard was when our opponents were pitted against us, which was few and far between."

"Your team was seeded a lot?"

"During the few weeks in the Patch Village, we only had 4 matches which ended in either forfeits or embarrassing defeats on the other team's behalf." Yoh hummed in amazement.

"Can I ask what your Mochire are?"

"Elen and I would like it if all of you wouldn't pry."

He figured that would happen. If that's the case, he'd just wait until the two were ready to tell them.

A dog barked in the distance, possibly to tell every other canine that the area where he was was his territory. The two still stayed like that, until Diana turned around to make her way back to her room.

"Don't worry," Yoh called, seeming to read her thoughts. Diana stopped. "Everything will work out."

She continued to her room, thinking, _'I hope so Yoh-san. I really hope so.'_

* * *

"Those two are hiding something." Yoh nodded at his friend's words.

"I know, Ren." The golden-eyed boy stepped out from his place around the corner, stepping closer to whom he could consider his best friend.

"But you're not going to do anything yet." It was more of a statement than a question. Knowing the Asakura heir, he will just let those two do as they please until such time when information was necessary to help them. "You know what their Furyoku reminds everyone about." Yoh nodded in agreement.

"Hao."

It was a conclusion that felt so right, so natural, that both boys knew that there was no going back on it.

"But we don't know who they are or even if they're associated with him."

"For all we know, those two could've been sent here to kill us all in our sleep for revenge. Especially you." Yoh stretched his arms up, plastering that big grin he usually has and said,

"Well, if that is the case, then they can just come right out and fight us. Right, Amidamaru?" The samurai ghost appeared at his side a calm smile on his face.

"That's right, Yoh-dono," he said to his master. "I am sure that it will be a great fight should it happen." Yoh 'heh heh heh-d' in response to it.

Ren 'hmph-ed', then made his way upstairs to his own room.

"Goodnight, Ren." The Tao only continued forward.

* * *

Diana lied down under her futon's covers, her mind still racing but more at peace than before. She felt more thankful than anything right now to Asakura Yoh, knowing that he wasn't one to push for information when they weren't ready to tell them.

Sigh...

She rolled over to face her sister, more jealous of her now than ever.

Elen had it the worst of the two. She was always the stronger one, always the one who took things better than herself, yet was always the one who took care of her and everyone who needed help.

Diana, on the other hand, had been more reclusive. Though she didn't get the brunt of things, she was always the shyer of the twins, always being scared of others while Elen merely squared her shoulders and met things head on with a powerful gaze. Diana had always wished that she could be more like that, but could never find the strength to do so.

She rolled again, this time on her back. Holding her hands up in a cupped position, the air between swirled and condensed into a green Hitodama ball. Diana was relieved that nobody had found their Mochire, but she was sure that both she and Elen had to tell the others eventually. But trust didn't come easily to either of them. It was their biggest flaw.

The Hitodama seemed to cuddle up to it's Shaman's cheek, silently telling her to get some sleep and that it would be right there to guard them. Diana, more at peace knowing that, folded her arms across her stomach and finally shut her eyes.

The world went black.

* * *

YAY! Chapter 2 is DONE! (Confetti rains down.)

Now, I WILL delete the other stories, but not just yet. I might've forgotten some important things, so I'll keep them as reference until such time that they're not needed. I'm trying to focus on character development right now, so if it seems slow then please bear with me.

Also, one reviewer said that they liked HoroXOC stories, but really, this is HaoXOC. If it was HoroHoro, then there'd be two H's instead of one. Just to clear that little misunderstanding.

And once again, a thanks to Darkness Sidhe for beta-ing. Check them out!

Also, today is SuperBowl Sunday! If y'all wanna know which team I'm rootin' for...

49'RS ALL THE WAY! YAY! It's nearly 4:30 pm pst right now, so it's too soon to tell which will win, but SF had better win! It's been 20 years since they went and now that they have, they just HAVE to win!

As always, please read, review, send ideas and send to friends.

See y'all next time!


	3. Chapter 3 It couldn't be

Disclaimer: I don't own the title, "Shaman King," nor am I with any manga/anime companies in any way. Any OCs are mine unless stated otherwise. All characters I didn't make go to their respected owner, Takei Hiroyki-sensei.

RECAP:

_"...could now sense some sort of strange energy coming from a certain direction. It felt ... a bit familiar in a way the boys couldn't place. The feeling was large and oppressive, and it felt like it was getting a little hard to breathe, yet still had the presence of something or someone gentle and cautious."_

_"'My name's Elen... Her name's Diana. She's my younger twin sister.'"_

_"'The Shaman Fight: Restart.'"_

_"'[_She_ was a Shaman too.]'"_

_"'You mean their scars, right Tamao?'"_

_'"It looked like they were both slashed with knives over and over. I even saw what looked to be burn scars too...'"_

_"'...she and Elen also acted like they didn't trust anyone besides each other.'"_

_"'The Patch wanted us to be need-to-know only...'"_

_"'Those two are hiding something.'"_

_"You know what their Furyoku reminds everyone about." Yoh nodded in agreement._

_"Hao."_

_"...the air between swirled and condensed into a green Hitodama ball."_

* * *

One of Elen's eyebrows arched up at the sight of Yoh and Anna at the entrance, putting on their shoes while wearing, for Yoh, the same outfit he had on the previous evening and for Anna something that seemed similar. Anna had a white, short-sleeved blouse with a short red crossover tie and a green pleated skirt with black knee-high socks. Now that she actually thought about it, she remembered that that small guy, Oyamada Manta had on a similar outfit to his taller counter-part, but Yoh's was an openwhite dress-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a green pair of rolled-up pants with wooden bathroom sandals.

Bags in hand, the two exited the house and Elen felt it was safe to come out from behind the corner where she had been silently observing them. Diana's Furyoku was in the kitchen, nervous in the presence of the scowling Chinese heir. Tamao was outside, sweeping the walkway and she heard the pinkette say to be safe and that they'll see each other for dinner.

The night for her was pretty peaceful as she had actually slept and hadn't had the nightmares that so commonly plagued her in her sleep. Waking up when the sun hit her face was by force of habit of sleeping lightly for survival, but she felt better knowing that she was in an environment that was safe for Diana.

_'Great, I'm sounding more like a __mother than __an actual__ sister.'_

Relocating to the kitchen, she saw Diana and Ren sitting at the kitchen table, the green-eyed girl squirming in her seat across the table while the Tao read a book in a language that reminded her of Japanese characters, but looked more like a jumbled mess in her eyes.

Seeing that her sister was in the room, Diana nearly shot up from her seat and hurried to Elen's side, clinging to the older girl's left hand. Noticing this, Ren looked up from his book and regarded her with his eyes. Elen didn't like the Tao's eyes very much. They seemed so cold and clinical whenever they were directed at her or her sister. From Diana's reaction, she felt the same way as Elen did.

"Where did Yoh-san and Anna-san go?" she asked him. A purple eyebrow quirked upward, his eyes looking back at them in a way that almost asked _"Are you stupid?"_ That really irked Elen.

"Those two went to school. Like they always do," he answered.

"'[Gaa-kou]'?" They tested this word that they hadn't heard before, silently trying to translate it into any of the languages they knew. "[Oh, school!]" they exclaimed.

Ren recoiled slightly, not really expecting the two to speak in a different language - _'Was that Russian?'_ - when Tamao came in.

"Oh, you two are up. Yoh-sama and Anna-sama have already left for school," she informed the occupants of the room. "I'll start on breakfast for us. Oh, before I forget," reaching into her pants pocket, the pinkette pulled out a slip of paper. "Elen-san, Diana-san, Anna-sama wanted me to give you this." Taking the paper, the twins read it over.

"[They're chores]," said Diana, immediately catching Tamao's attention from chopping a vegetable.

"'[Dishes, floors, onsen, windows]'," Elen listed off the piece of paper.

Meanwhile, as the blondes were discussing the list of jobs assigned to them, Ren and Tamao had adopted very curious and confused looks on their faces as they watched the guests communicate in a Slavic tongue. Now, being a foreigner in Japan and it being his second language, Ren knew how to spot the same with other people. Although their Japanese was good enough so they could speak with others and understand natives without much problem, the Tao could also tell how the accents from the other languages they knew, possibly all their lives, blended into their Japanese for a unique and very odd dialect of the Asian language.

Finally noticing the other two occupants' perplexed expression, Elen and Diana's cheeks tinted pink slightly and they apologized, realizing that they were speaking in a different language without their noticing before turning around and leaving the kitchen.

* * *

"[Tamao-san's cooking is really good,]" said the green-eyed twin as she dried a bowl.

"[Yeah. But I didn't like how Ren-san was looking at us, like we were going to morph into Baba Yaga and eat everyone instead of the food in front of us,]" Elen replied, sponging a plate. Diana let out a nervous giggle, putting the bowl in the proper cabinet before taking the clean plate from the drain and towelling it as well.

"[I'm sure he has his reasons for it. After all, you wouldn't stop glaring at him either.]'

"[Only because I don't completely trust him and he makes you nervous.]'

"[You can be so over protective sometimes, Elen.]"

"[As your older sister, I have to be.]"

"[By five minutes.]"

"[Older is older. No matter how much time it is by.]"

Finishing the last cup, the twins retrieved the cleaning supplies they had discovered while looking for the proper places to put the dishes away, and went to get started on the windows. Splitting up, Diana went to the living room while Elen stayed in the kitchen, but found it already occupied by the Tao heir who was reading the same book as before. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before her sister could sense them, she walked into the room and started wiping down the glass panes, all the while feeling his heated golden stare on her back.

"So, why aren't you in school?" she asked, trying to make the atmosphere a little more tolerable. There was a stony silence in the room, and she almost believed that Ren had left before he finallly spoke:

"I'm here in Japan visiting. Besides, I'm home-schooled." Feeling a bit relieved that he was being more civil, Diana allowed herself to relax a bit.

"Me and Elen were home-schooled," she told him. "All our lives. Which is why Elen didn't know where Anna-san and Yoh-san were goin' this mornin'."

_'So they're sheltered?'_ Ren thought. Their eyes, though, told a different story. Like they had seen too much of the world.

"You're from China, right?" The Tao snapped out of his musings at that question, now looking at the curious green eyes of the female Shaman.

"Yeah, I am," he replied, trying to save face.

She smiled that small, tight smile of hers, saying, "I've always wanted to visit, but between Shaman training and some other stuff, neither of us has had a chance." A purple eyebrow arched at that.

"What 'other stuff'?" Diana's smile faded, her eyes downcasted slightly.

"Please don't ask about it," she asked, turning back to the window.

Damn. Now he felt guilty.

"Are you two from a Shaman family?" Perking at the question as she was about to leave the room, Diana looked back at the purple-haired Shaman, contemplating on what answer to give him.

"Yeah. Our mother was from two families from both Russia and Spain. Elen and I ourselves were born in Spain."

Taking in this information, Ren nodded. "And your father?"

"We don't talk about him very much," she said solemnly.

Double damn.

"So your grandparents. Which is from Spain and Russia?"

Looking at the boy curiously, she silently debated the pros and cons of answering that question. It was a well known fact was that neither she nor Elen liked to talk personally about their family for fear of multiple things that were connected to them. But Diana, herself, didn't really mind as much as her sister to answer simple questions like the one Tao Ren had just done, but was still more cautious than a normal person would be about it.

So that's why, after about ten seconds of debate, she sat herself down at the tea table next to the Chinese, much to his surprise, and answered.

"My [grandmother] was from Russia, while my /grandfather\ was from Spain," she told him, a slight but stiff tug to the corners of her lips. "[Grandmother] was born in the Soviet Union, but was married to /grandfather\ because her family was about to loose influential power. It worked out pretty well though, because they seemed to be very happy with the arrangement. At least that's what I've seen and heard."

Ren hummed, not exactly expecting the answer given but interested anyway. "How long has it been since you've seen them?"

"Thirteen years."

A small gap of silence.

_''Seen'?'_ "And how old are you?"

"It's rude to ask a girl's age... but fourteen."

Gold eyes blinked in confusion.

"Me and Elen have Eidetic Memory. It's where our brains can basically film everythin' that happens to us and replay the memories whenever we want, and sometimes don't want. Also called Photographic Memory," she explained.

Ren knew he should tread lightly on this next question. "Do you get that from your mother or father?"

"Our {Grandfather}, father's father, had an extraordinary memory. If he read a book in ten minutes and you can ask him to recite any part of the story, he'd do it to a T." That smile seemed to be relaxing a bit. She was getting more comfortable with answering these questions.

"What kind of man was your grandfather?" he asked.

"He was a kind man, who loved to play games with us. He even helped teach us to learn piano and violin," Diana told Ren. "Though, I couldn't play the piano to save my life and whenever Elen tries to play violin it sounds like a cat being strangled." She had to laugh at the memory of a four-year-old Elen, passed out from taking the brunt of the horrendous noise she produced and the rest of the family with half their hearing taken away from them. And then doing the exact same thing when she was twelve and having the raccoons chasing after them through the fields.

Despite himself, Ren had to smile a little at how the girl beside him was responding to his questions. Really, he had wanted to question one of them to find out if and how they were connected to Hao and if they should be worried. But the scion was actually half-enjoying himself with the conversation. It was refreshing, compared to the company he'd been keeping since becoming friends with Yoh, to have a calm interaction with someone new.

"What about your grandfather. What's he like?" she asked him. With a "hmph", he replied,

"He's a hardass man who trained me ragged when I was a little kid. Nearly killed me a few times."

"Sounds like you really love him."

"Shut up."

* * *

Elen stayed out of sight next to the door, listening in on what the two were saying. She sent a silent message to Diana _"[Make sure you don't say anythin' unnecessary]"_ before turning and going to the hall. Opening the closet that was located next to the flight of stairs, she grabbed a mop and bucket and headed to one of the onsens.

Personally, Elen was pretty proud of Diana for talking like she had been to Ren. She trusted her sister not to do anything that might complicate situations, but felt like Diana was a little too dependent on her. Now don't get her wrong. Circumstances basically guaranteed such things, but they were fourteen not nine anymore.

_'[Diana needs to learn how to take care of herself,]'_ she thought, mopping up the stone floor of the bath. _'[I won't be around forever after all. But...]' _She stopped, looking into one of the mirrors and taking in what she saw.

The person staring back at her looked so tired. Her hair loosing some of its shine, her eyelids a bit droopy, her waist a little too thin for her belt and her knees felt like they had stone weights on them. She felt like she was really a thirty-year-old inside a fourteen-year-old body.

A light flashed, the reflection of someone with long brown hair and a beige cloak appearing and disappearing in less than a second. Gasping, she dropped the cleaning instrument and stumbled backwards a foot. All that she saw now was herself, only surprised beyond belief. Elen cautiously stepped right in front of the mirror, tentatively touching the glass with her fingertips before putting her whole palm onto the glass surface.

Wasn't that...

No, it couldn't be.

He was dead after all.

Asakura Hao couldn't be alive after what Yoh did.

Could he?

* * *

He had to laugh at her perplexed expression. Really, it was priceless. She was so cute when she was surprised.

Watching the flame, a boy with long brown hair sat, his smile never wavering as he watched the images in the campfire play before him. The girl he was watching jerked her hand away from the reflective glass with narrowed eyes before turning on her heel and picking the mop back up, resuming her chore of cleaning the onsen.

"I didn't really expect them to be found by Otouto-kun and his friends," he began, picking up a stick of grilled fish that was ready to be eaten. "But this could work in my favor."

Taking a bite of the cooked aquatic creature, the images turned to the green-eyed one who was now chatting with the Chinese Ghost as she wiped the wooden floors of the inn.

"She really should learn to fend for herself. If not, then how will either of them be ready to fight _him_? They'd be helpless."

Another change in scene, this time to a girl with long brown hair like his and glasses, shopping bags in her hands as she laughed with other girls her age.

"She doesn't have any drive to be a Shaman, much less go into a Shaman Fight like the one that'll be coming up soon. Until she is, she's of no real use."

The moving pictures vanished, leaving only the orange, yellow and red glow before it was extinguished completely seemingly by an unknown force.

"I think I'll talk to Elen soon," he decided, looking at the light blue sky. "It'll be nice, having a woman's touch around here."

He took another bite, that self-satisfied smile never leaving his face.

* * *

To all high schoolers, the year is finally up! To the graduates, good luck on your journeys! For those in summer school (like me), stay strong!

I hate this special-special education class I'm in, and I'll be taking it to the school board to let me to let me go back to mainstream classes. Send me some courage so that I can win.

I have a new story going on as well. It's a Harvest Moon Animal Parade fic called _**Messis Miles Ruby**. _Please check it out!

I went to fanime about a week ago. It was my first convention for the anime geeks, and it was HEAVEN! I was so at home and I felt like I was among my people finally! If anyone was there and saw a black and blue-clad witch, chances are that was me. A couple guys even took my pictures. Also, I saw this amazing AMV for the contest and you should check it out. It's on vimeo at 66216196 and it's got me addicted to the movie the song is from again. And it just moves me so much how the mother sent her son down the river to save him in the story.

Another special thanks to Darkness Sidhe for the beta-ing! They're awesome so you should check them out.

Now, Elen and Diana _will_ be speaking in different languages (to the other characters) so it should make for some fun situations! Hee hee hee

On another note, I haven't gotten any reviews since the first chapter of this story. C'mon, rub my ego a little! Tell me what I can do better! Just drop some kind of line for me!

So please read, review, send ideas and send to friends.

See y'all next time!


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